Bernardo Silva offered ‘lucrative opportunity’ to leave Manchester City and Europe

Manchester City and Portugal star Bernardo Silva has been offered the opportunity to join the ongoing project in Saudi Arabia, according to new reports.

The 28-year-old has once again hit a crossroads in his club career, as another summer transfer window has brought about reports and beliefs from within the players camp that an Etihad Stadium exit is being desired by the midfielder.

Such links with an exit from Manchester City have unsurprisingly sparked widespread interest in the player’s services, despite the Premier League champions expected to be demanding a hefty lump of cash from potential suitors.

This week however, a new report has linked the former Benfica and AS Monaco man with an exit from European football entirely, as the Saudi Arabian government continue their pursuit of growing football as a proposition to global TV audiences.

According to the information of The Athletic’s David Ornstein, Bernardo Silva has become the latest football superstar to receive a ‘lucrative opportunity’ to join the Saudi Pro League.

It is explained that talks have now taken place between those in Saudi Arabia and Bernardo Silva’s representative Jorge Mendes, while financial numbers have also been discussed by the relevant parties.

However, those following the game in Saudi Arabia are not set to get their wish, with the report stating that there is currently an expectation that Bernardo Silva will turn down the possibility of moving to Saudi Arabia, despite considering all options on the table.

With the likes of FC Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain both showing interest in the Manchester City man for the second successive season, The Athletic states that the initial indications are that Bernardo Silva would favour continuing to play in Europe over Saudi.

Bernardo Silva has become the fourth Manchester City player to receive interest from Saudi Arabia in the last couple of weeks, joining Kyle Walker, Ilkay Gundogan, and Riyad Mahrez.

With regards to the latter, Mahrez could yet still swap England for the middle-east, with it being understood in various quarters that the Algeria international would be interested in a swap for Saudi Arabia.

Riyad Mahrez has somewhat struggled for game time this season, often playing second-fiddle to the likes of Bernardo Silva and Julian Alvarez in forward positions.

Should Mahrez complete an exit from Manchester City this summer, then last season’s treble winners are likely to explore replacements, albeit fitting the Jack Grealish profile of being good in retaining possession – as opposed to being speedsters out wide.